page_title: Clavier-Übung III
section_title: The Ten Commandments BWV 678, 679
hierarchical_section_title: Clavier-Übung III / Chorale preludes BWV 669–689 / Chorale preludes BWV 678–689 (Lutheran catechism) / The Ten Commandments BWV 678, 679
caption_attribution_description: English: Moses receiving the ten commandments from prayer book of Martin Luther
context_page_description: The Clavier-Übung III, sometimes referred to as the German Organ Mass, is a collection of compositions for organ by Johann Sebastian Bach, started in 1735–36 and published in 1739. It is considered Bach's most significant and extensive work for organ, containing some of his most musically complex and technically demanding compositions for that instrument.
  In its use of modal forms, motet-style and canons, it looks back to the religious music of masters of the stile antico, such as Frescobaldi, Palestrina, Lotti and Caldara. At the same time, Bach was forward-looking, incorporating and distilling modern baroque musical forms, such as the French-style chorale.
  The work has the form of an Organ Mass: between its opening and closing movements—the prelude and "St Anne" fugue in E♭ major, BWV 552—are 21 chorale preludes, BWV 669–689, setting parts of the Lutheran mass and catechisms, followed by four duets, BWV 802–805. The chorale preludes range from compositions for single keyboard to a six-part fugal prelude with two parts in the pedal.
context_section_description: BWV 678 Dies sind die heil'gen zehn Gebot (These are the holy Ten Commandments) play 
  Below is the text of the first verse of Luther's hymn with the English translation by Charles Sanford Terry:
  Dies sind die heil'gen zehn Gebot,
  
  die uns gab unser Herr Gott
  
  durch Mosen, seiner Diener treu.
  
  hoch auf dem Berge Sinai.
  
  Kyrieleis!
  These are the holy ten commands,
  
  Which came to us from God's own hands,
  
  By Moses, who obeyed His will,
  
  On the top of Sinai's hill.
  
  Kyrieleis.
  The prelude is in the mixolydian mode of G, ending on a plagal cadence in G minor. The ritornello is in the upper parts and bass on the upper manual and pedal, with the cantus firmus in canon at the octave on the lower manual. There are ritornello episodes and five entries of the Cantus firmus, yielding the number of commandments. The distribution of parts, two parts in each keyboard and one in the pedal is similar to that of the de Grigny Livre d'Orgue, although Bach makes much greater technical demands on the right hand part.
  Commentators have seen the canon as representing order, with the pun on canon as "law". As also expressed in Luther's verses, the two voices of the canon have been seen as symbolising the new law of Christ and the old law of Moses, which it echoes. The pastoral quality in the organ writing for the upper voices at the opening has been interpreted as representing the serenity before the Fall of Man; it is followed by the disorder of sinful waywardness; and finally order is restored in the closing bars with the calm of salvation.
  The upper part and pedal engage in an elaborate and highly developed fantasia based on motifs introduced in the ritornello at the beginning of the chorale prelude. These motifs recur either in their original form or inverted. There are six motifs in the upper part:
  the three crotchets at beginning of bar 1 above
  the dotted minim in the second part of bar 1 above
  the six note quaver figure in the two halves of bar 3 above
  the phrase of three semiquavers and two pairs of "sighing" quavers in bar 5 above
  the semiquaver passagework in the second half of bar 5 above
  the semiquaver passage work in the second half of the second bar below (first heard in bar 13)
  and five in the bass:
  the three crotchets at the beginning of bar 4 above
  the two crotchets dropping by an octave at the beginning of bar 5 above
  the phrase in the second part of bar 5 above
  the three note scale in the second, third and fourth crotchets of bar 6 above
  the last three crotchets in bar 7 above.
  The writing for the two upper voices is similar to that for obligato instruments in a cantata: their musical material is independent of the chorale, The opening pedal G on the other hand can be heard as a foretaste of the repeated Gs in the cantus firmus. In between the cantus firmus is sung in canon at the octave on the second manual. The fifth and final entry of the cantus firmus is in the distant key of B♭ major (G minor): it expresses the purity of the Kyrie eleison at the end of the first verse, which brings the prelude to a harmonious close:
  BWV 679 Dies sind die heil'gen zehn Gebot (These are the holy Ten Commandments) play 
  The lively gigue-like fughetta has several similarities to the larger chorale prelude: it is in the mixolydian mode of G; it starts with a pedal point of repeated Gs; the number ten occurs as the number of entries of the subject (four of them inverted); and the piece ends on a plagal cadence. The motifs in the second half of the second bar and the countersubject are extensively developed. The liveliness of the fughetta has been taken to reflect Luther's exhortation in the Small Catechism to do "cheerfully what He has commanded." Equally well, Psalm 119 speaks of "delighting ... in His statutes" and rejoicing in the Law.
caption: Sebald Beham, 1527: woodcut in Luther's prayer book of Moses receiving the Ten Commandments
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